Luis Andrés Caputo (born 21 April 1965) is an Argentine

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

who was Minister of Public Finances and President of the Central Bank of Argentina. Surprisingly, in the middle of a negotiation with the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

and internal policies, he presented his resignation as chief of the central bank and was replaced by the Secretary of Economic Policy of the Ministry of Treasury, Guido Sandleris. Caputo is classified as a pragmatist, with reflexes to react to

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, an ...

movements and will be remembered as the maker of financing during gradualism.

Early life and education

Caputo completed his primary and secondary studies at the catholic and bilingual

La Salle College La Salle College (LSC) (, Demonym: Lasallian) is a boys' secondary school in Hong Kong. It was established in 1932 by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, a Roman Catholic religious teaching order founded by St. John Ba ...

. He graduated with a degree in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

from the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one of the most prestigi ...

. His cousin, Nicolás Caputo, is a construction industry entrepreneur close to

Mauricio Macri Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previo ...

Academics

He has been Professor of

and Finance in the postgraduate course of the

Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina A pontifical ( la, pontificale) is a Christian liturgical book containing the liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal for the ordination and consecration of deacons, priests, and bishops to Holy ...

Finances

Caputo served as Chief of Trading for

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

JP Morgan JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in City of New York, New York City and Delaware General Corporation Law, inco ...

between 1994 and 1998, and he held the same position for

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

and

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...

between 1998 and 2003. From that year until 2008 he was chairman of the Argentine branch of

Private sector

He has also been Director of an electric distribution company and an Administrator of common funds of investment created by him.

Secretary and Minister of Finances

In December 2015 Caputo assumed the position of Secretary of Finances of the Macri's administration. During his tenure he played a key role together with

Alfonso Prat Gay Alfonso Prat-Gay (born 24 November 1965) is an Argentine economist and politician. Following the election of Mauricio Macri to the presidency on 2015, he became Minister of Economy. He was also President of the Central Bank of Argentina from ...

in the

negotiation Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more people or parties to reach the desired outcome regarding one or more issues of conflict. It is an interaction between entities who aspire to agree on matters of mutual interest. The agreement c ...

with the

hedge funds A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as sho ...

, where the country agreed to pay 9.352 million US dollars and Argentina returned to international capital markets and guaranteed

external financing In the theory of capital structure, external financing is the phrase used to describe funds that firms obtain from outside of the firm. It is contrasted to internal financing which consists mainly of profits retained by the firm for investment. T ...

in a difficult context as a result of the default inherited from

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and politician who has served as the Vice President of Argentina since 2019. She also served as the President o ...

. On 26 December 2016, after the dismissal of Alfonso Prat-Gay by President Macri, the Ministry of Treasury and Public Finance was split in two, with Caputo being appointed

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

in January 2017. He continued to take on the task of ensuring the arrival of the necessary

funds Funding is the act of providing resources to finance a need, program, or project. While this is usually in the form of money, it can also take the form of effort or time from an organization or company. Generally, this word is used when a firm uses ...

to face the

fiscal deficit The government budget balance, also alternatively referred to as general government balance, public budget balance, or public fiscal balance, is the overall difference between government revenues and spending. A positive balance is called a ''g ...

. His deep knowledge of

international finance International finance (also referred to as international monetary economics or international macroeconomics) is the branch of financial economics broadly concerned with monetary and macroeconomic interrelations between two or more countries. Inter ...

and direct contact with interlocutors on Wall Street are highlighted.

President of Central Bank

On June 14, Caputo became President of the BCRA. His main challenge was to contain

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduct ...

, results that Sturzenegger's administration did not achieve in 2018. Caputo was in the midst of a context of mistrust in the economic program. He increased the

interest rate An interest rate is the amount of interest due per period, as a proportion of the amount lent, deposited, or borrowed (called the principal sum). The total interest on an amount lent or borrowed depends on the principal sum, the interest rate, ...

from 20% and

Argentine peso The peso (established as the ''peso convertible'') is the currency of Argentina, identified by the symbol $ preceding the amount in the same way as many countries using peso or dollar currencies. It is subdivided into 100 ''centavos''. Its ISO 4 ...

was devalued 40% in three months during its administration. He disarmed the Letters of the Central Bank, and is considered one of the victories. Meanwhile, the BCRA's reserves in June were $45 million and, upon announcing its resignation, it reached $49 million (considering here the IMF's money inflow). He resigned on September 25, 2018 at the request of the

and was replaced by Guido Sandleris. Argentine stocks and bonds fell after his departure from the Central Bank.

Controversies

On 2017, a government branch of the Fiscal Ministry, opened a judicial case accusing Luis Caputo of embezzling money from a Social Security fund by paying fees of at least 540,000 AR$ to a Company he had owned and directed until 2015 in lieu of services that were unnecessary. On 5 November 2017, the

Paradise Papers The Paradise Papers are a set of over 13.4 million confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investments that were leaked to the German reporters Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer, from the newspaper'' Süddeutsch ...

, a set of confidential

electronic document An electronic document is any electronic media content (other than computer programs or system files) that is intended to be used in either an electronic form or as printed output. Originally, any computer data were considered as something inter ...

s relating to

offshore investment Offshore investment is the keeping of money in a jurisdiction other than one's country of residence. Offshore jurisdictions are used to pay less tax in many countries by large and small-scale investors. Poorly regulated offshore domiciles have ser ...

, revealed that Caputo have managed at least two offshore wealth funds. Neither the Cayman Islands–based Alto Global Fund nor its

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

-based parent company, Noctua Partners LLC, were listed in Caputo's financial disclosure statement, a statement that all public officials and candidates for office are required to make. He told Argentine members of the ICIJ team that "it was an investment fund for friends and family." The funds, opened in 2009 and with over $100 million under management, remained under Caputo's management until December 2015, when Macri named him Finance Secretary, a post upgraded to Finance Minister in January 2017.

Other activities

* Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors *

Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) is an international financial institution which offers political risk insurance and credit enhancement guarantees. These guarantees help investors protect foreign direct investments against ...

(MIGA),

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Gr ...

, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of GovernorsBoard of Governors

(MIGA),

References

External links

Nicolás Dujovne: conductor de TN, columnista de La Nación y asesor de Cambiemos en la campaña
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caputo, Luis 1965 births Living people Presidents of the Central Bank of Argentina University of Buenos Aires alumni 20th-century Argentine economists 21st-century Argentine economists Argentine Ministers of Finance People named in the Paradise Papers